4th generation · SM Entertainment
エスパ / 에스파
aespa is a four-member girl group from SM Entertainment. Start with Black Mamba, Next Level, Spicy, and Drama to hear the group's cyber-pop identity and performance scale.
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Glossy pop hooks, avatar-inspired worldbuilding, forceful vocals, and sharply synchronised choreography define aespa's core appeal.
Choose aespa if futuristic concepts, powerful vocals, and highly produced performance videos are your fastest way into K-pop.
カリナ카리나 · KarinaSoloGOT the beatView in Japanese
ジゼル지젤 · GiselleSoloView in Japanese
ウィンター윈터 · WinterSoloGOT the beatView in Japanese
ニンニン닝닝 · NingningSoloView in Japanese| Members | Birth date | Blood type | MBTI | Nationality | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| カリナ | 2000-04-11ⓘ | 26 | 168cm | B | ENFP | South Koreaⓘ |
| ジゼル | 2000-10-30ⓘ | 25 | 164cm | O | INFJ | Japanⓘ |
| ウィンター | 2001-01-01ⓘ | 25 | 165cm | A | ENFJ | South Koreaⓘ |
| ニンニン | 2002-10-23ⓘ | 23 | 161cm | O | INFP | Chinaⓘ |
Ages are as of 2026-09-24.
Follow a few songs from the starting point to the group's current sound.
Next Level MVChoose this first for aespa's switch-heavy song structure and instantly recognizable hook.
Supernova MVA later-era entry point that pairs metallic production with one of the group's biggest hooks.LEMONADE MVUse the 2026 title track to hear how the group balances a brighter surface with its harder electronic edge.7 daesang · 22 awards · 3 No. 1 finishes (compiled by KPOP DISCOVER, as of September 24, 2026)
Korean Music Awards KMA
Golden Disc Awards GDA
Melon Music Awards MMA
Hanteo Music Awards HMA
Mnet Asian Music Awards MAMA
Korean Music Awards KMA
Mnet Asian Music Awards MAMA
Golden Disc Awards GDA
Melon Music Awards MMA
Mnet Asian Music Awards MAMA
Source: announcements by each award ceremony and official chart
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What makes aespa strong is that the world is rigid and the four voices inside it fit together. The ae and KWANGYA story introduced on Black Mamba has been restated with a different sound every time: the tempo switch of Next Level, the sinking pull of Drama, the roar of Supernova, the edited coldness of Whiplash, the band instrumentation of Dirty Work. This is where SM's fourth-generation girl group stopped explaining a concept and started playing it.
Karina's gravity, Giselle's flow across three languages, Winter's steady middle register, Ningning's climbing high notes. The pressure the four of them make standing side by side is harder than anything from their fourth-generation peers, IVE, NewJeans and ITZY. Listen to the singing alone, or watch the precision of the performance videos and dance practices, and the footing of four members who never break formation wins either way.
The second album LEMONADE, released on May 29, 2026, and the pre-release single WDA with G-DRAGON mark the point where aespa is testing whether it can win outside KWANGYA rather than simply continue it. Play Next Level, then Supernova, then LEMONADE, and within six minutes it is clear why the group is still at the centre of the charts and the award shows in 2026.
Editors' take Next Level / Supernova / LEMONADE — three songs run the group from its world, to its biggest hit, to where it stands now.
aespa were SM Entertainment's first fourth-generation girl group, and the debut song Black Mamba passed one hundred million YouTube views faster than anything else in the label's history.
Next Level is a remake of a song by A$ton Wyld from the soundtrack of a Fast & Furious spin-off film. It peaked at No. 2 on the Gaon digital chart, and 27 weeks in the top 10 was the longest run by a girl group at the time, in 2021.
No. 58 of 211 groups with recorded activity in Japan (top 27%)
The denominator is the 211 groups, out of 525 covered by KPOP DISCOVER, whose raw score reaches at least one point. The score adds 10 points per Japanese-market release, 3 per Japan-related track, 12 per member from Japan, and 8 per official Japanese account. Japanese-market releases carry the most weight because they are the most direct evidence of activity; related tracks add track-level detail; members from Japan stand for Japanese-language communication and continuity; official accounts stand for a permanent point of contact. The weights are an editorial judgement, not a statistical optimisation, and the ranking tracks release volume in Japan closely. Source: releases, tracks, members, and official links recorded by KPOP DISCOVER (updated 2026-09-24).
How this score is calculated →View in Japanese
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